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Basie at Newport to be reissued as VME


Big Al

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In-fukkin'-credible. Some of the VERY best late-period Lester Young on record, Jo Jones rockin' EVERYBODY'S world, & Jimmy Rushing grabbing life by the balls and daring it not to like it. Life, knowing what's good for it, doesn't put up as much as even a token resistance.

Do VMEs have bonus cuts? The bonus stuff on the older version (things by the then-current band, some w/Joe Williams) is good enough, and gives you value for the money, but it's ultimately ephemeral compared to the original album.

Either way, you get to hear John Hammond's introductions, which give new meaning to the word "self-absorbed". Priceless!

Edited by JSngry
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As our friend mmilovan sent me on a Prez trip recently, I listened to this one (the Prez parts, only - including the Rushing tracks) two days ago, and YES IT'S FUCKING GREAT!

Even the jam at the end with Little Jazz and Jacquet added (and Prez aboard, too) is good!

Jim, I would guess the VME will include the bonus material - the Webster Soulville did also have that piano session, and there are several others that come to mind that do have bonus material.

ubu

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c33488peer9.jpg

At the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival, the music was consistently inspired and often historic. Count Basie welcomed back tenor great Lester Young and singer Jimmy Rushing for part of a very memorable set highlighted by "Boogie Woogie" and "Evenin'"; Young plays beautifully throughout and Rushing is in prime form. An exciting full-length version of "One O'Clock Jump" features Young, Illinois Jacquet, and trumpeter Roy Eldridge; the Basie band stretches out on "Swingin' at Newport"; and five previously unreleased selections (put out for the first time on this CD) include four Joe Williams vocals. It's a great set of music. — Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&u...l=Ay88e4j471wal

That's right.

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Tracklist from cduniverse:

1. Introduction By John Hammond

2. Swingin' At Newport

3. Polka Dots And Moonbeams

4. Lester Leaps In

5. Sent For You Yesterday (And Here You Come Today)

6. Boogie Woogie (I May Be Wrong)

7. Evenin'

8. Blee Blop Blues

9. All Right, Okay, You Win - (bonus track)

10. Comeback, The - (bonus track)

11. Roll 'Em Pete - (bonus track)

12. Smack Dab In The Middle - (bonus track)

13. One O'Clock Jump - (bonus track)

That's the same tracks as on the 1989 Verve CD, only that this marks 8-12 as bonus tracks. Nothing new it seems. According to Buyninckx, four more titles were performed that are unissued:

14. Jumpin' at the Woodside

15. Corner Pocket

16. Shiny Stockings

17. April In Paris

Session order would be:

1-2-14-15-16-17-8-9-10-11-12 with the regular band

3-4-5-6-7 with Jimmy Rushing and Lester Young added

13 all the above plus Roy Eldridge and Illinois Jacquet

So they simply repeated the messed-up order of the previous LP and CD issues.

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VME stands for Verve Master Edition - a CD reissue series in deluxe foldout digipak design with new remastering, bonus material if available, and new commentary added to the original liner notes - and sold at high price level.

Covers look like this compared to the older version pictured above:

509817.jpg

Edited by mikeweil
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Thanks, guys. I even own some VMEs, I am embarrassed to say. I just never called them that.

Funny thing is, I plugged VME into a search engine and came up with "virtual musical environment." I thought, uh oh, this must be some heavy shit! :g

Edited by John L
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I would not mind having this recycled again by Verve provided they include ALL the material that was recorded at the Basie evening at Newport that day.

In addition to the four unissued titles that have already been mentioned, the invaluable Chris Sheridan Count Basie Bio-Discography lists:

- Every Day, with the Joe Williams vocal,

- Teach Me Tonight, with Joe Williams and Sarah Vaughan vocals.

Wish we could have a listen to those...

But the material already released is magnificient.

This also was the last Norman Granz produced Basie album and - correct me if I'm wrong - the final appearance of Lester Young with the Basie band.

I rarely get emotional but the first notes of Lester getting into 'Polka Dots and Moonbeams' just about brings tears by its pure simplicity and beauty!

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This also was the last Norman Granz produced Basie album and - correct me if I'm wrong - the final appearance of Lester Young with the Basie band.

Since he missed his appearance with the Basie Band for the "Sound of Jazz" broadcast, it was.

The existing CD runs for 57 minutes, so it is doubtful all the unissued material would fit on one CD. But two discs and performance order sure would be nice.

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This also was the last Norman Granz produced Basie album and - correct me if I'm wrong - the final appearance of Lester Young with the Basie band.

Since he missed his appearance with the Basie Band for the "Sound of Jazz" broadcast, it was.

But I think he did record with the "Basie All-stars" at the Columbia recording session for the Lp that took place a couple of days before the broadcast.

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One other thing, 2004 is Basie's centennial. I hope Verve has something more in the works than simply this. They own all of the Deccas and, of course, the Verves. Since Columbia has apparently given us all we're going to get, it's up to Verve to do right by Basie.

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